aeo 

.W35A3 


ADDRESSES 


DELIVERED 


AT  THK  COMPLIMENTARY  DINNER 


GIVEN    TO 


THE  HON.  JOHN  B.  WELLEK. 

BY    CITIZENS    OF    CALIFORNIA, 


AT  THE 


KIRKWCOD  HOUSE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 


OX   THURSDAY,  JANtJARY  22,  1857. 


WASHINGTON: 

GEO.  S.  GIDEON,  PRINTER. 

1857. 


5-  A3 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


WASHINGTON,  January  16,  1857. 
The  Hon.  JOHN  B.  WELLER,  Senator  from  California. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Your  kind  and  courteous  deportment  has  endeared  you  to  your  friends; 
your  devotion  to  the  interests  of  California  claims  the  gratitude  of  her  citizens;  whne 
the  ability,  dignity,  and  patriotism  with  which  you  have  discharged  your  duties  as  a 
Senator,  have  won  the  approbation  of  your  country.  As  an  evidence  of  their  esteem 
and  high  appreciation  of  your  public  services,  a  number  of  your  fellow-citizens  of 
California  respectfully  tender  to  you  the  compliment  of  a  public  dinner,  to  be  given 
at  the  Kirkwood  House,  on  Thursday,  the22d  instant,  at  8  o'clock  p.  m. 
We  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Very  respectfully  and  sincerely  yours,  &c., 

WM.  M.  STEUART, 
M.  DELANY, 
W.  W.  DOBBINS, 
A.  C.  BRADFORD, 
C.  E.  CARR, 

Committee  of  Arrangement. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  January  17,  1857. 

GENTLEMEN  :  Your  letter  of  yesterday,  tendering  me  a  public  dinner  at  the 
"Kirkwood  House,"  on  Thursday  next,  has  been  received.  As  it  will  afford  me 
^n  opportunity  of  meeting  my  California  friends  together,  I  cheerfully  accept  the 
invitation. 

For  the  very  complimentary  terms  in  which  you  allude  to  my  conduct  as  a 
Senator  and  a  citizen,  accept  my  unaffected  thanks.  I  have  endeavored  to  discharge 
my  duty  faithfully  to  our  adopted  State,  and  can  only  regret  that  I  have  not  been 
able  to  accomplish  more  for  that  important  although  neglected  portion  of  our  common 
country.  To  enjoy  the  confidence  and  respect  of  those  who  have  known  me  in  the 
social  circle,  and  who,  at  the  same  time,  have  had  an  opportunity  of  watching  my 
course  in  the  Senate,  is  indeed  a  high  honor.  1  trust  my  future,  whether  public  or 


private,  may  prove  that  your  confidence  has  not  been  misplaced.     Standing  alone  in 
the  Senate,  with  a  multiplicity  of  public  affairs  to  harass  and  perplex,  if  I  have  not 
given  offence  to  any  of  you,  it  is  because  of  your  charity  and  generous  forbearance. 
Accept  again,  gentlemen,  my  thanks  for  this  distinguished  mark  of  your  respect. 
1  am,  with  great  regard, 

Very  truly,  yourob.  terv'l, 

JOHN  B.  WELLER. 
Messrs. 

W.  iM.  STEUART, 
M.  DELANY, 
A.  C.  BRADFORD, 
W.  W.  DOBBINS, 
C.  E.  CARR,  Esq'rs, 

Committee  of  Arrangement. 


ADDRESSES. 


The  complimentary  dinner  given  to  the  Hon.  John  B.  Welier  took  place  at  the 
"Kirkwood  House,"  in  Washington,  on  Thursday,  the  22d  January,  1857,  and 
was  attended  by  a  number  of  distinguished  persons  as  invited  guests.  Col.  William 
M.  Steuart  presided,  assisted  by  Messrs.  Delany,  Dobbins,  Bradford  and  Carr. 
The  hall  was  beautifully  illuminated,  and  decorated  with  our  national  flags  and  other 
suitable  emblems  and  mottoes.  After  partaking  of  a  most  elegant  and  bountiful 
entertainment,  to  which  the  kindly  feelings  elicited  by  the  occasion  gave  zest  and 
enjoyment,  the  president  rose  and  addressed  the  company  in  the  following  remarks: 

GENTLEMEN:  The  occasion  which  brings  us  together  this  even 
ing  is  of  a  pleasing  and  interesting  character.  We  have  not  met 
to  celebrate  any  victory  won  on  land  or  sea — any  triumph  over 
foreign  enemies,  much  less  over  domestic  political  adversaries. 
The  flag  that  waves  over  us  is  not  a  trophy  taken  from  a  con 
quered  foe,  but  our  own  glorious  banner,  th§  ensign  of  our  com 
mon  country,  among  whose  stars,  emblazoned  with  a  living  glory, 
that  of  California  has  been  assigned  a  place,  and  whose  blended 
stripes  show  the  beauty  and  harmony  of  our  national  Union. 
The  motto,  iiThe  Constitution"  which  is  placed  above  us,  re 
minds  us  of  the  instrument  which  is  not  only  the  palladium  of  our 
liberties,  but,  so  long  as  it  shall  be  preserved  pure  and  undefiled, 
will  be  a  guiding  light  to  the  people  of  other  lands — aye,  in  climes 
where  civilization  smiles  in  its  cradle  or  slumbers  near  its  tomb. 
Among  the  principles  of  that  Constitution,  if  there  is  any  one 
more  to  be  revered  than  another — more  to  be  guarded  and  pro 
tected — it  is  that  of  political  equality  which  it  guaranties.  At 
once  the  basis  of  all  political  rights,  as  it  is  the  fountain  of  all 
honor  to  the  American  citizen,  there  cannot  be  a  greater  incen 
tive  to  honorable  ambition,  or  a  greater  security  for  the  faithful 
discharge  of  public  duty.  Yet,  we  are  the  only  people  who  have 
tried  the  experiment.  Examine  the  histories  of  the  most  enlight 
ened  people  who  have  flourished  in  the  lapse  of  time,  and  you 


6 

will  in  no  instance  find  them  free  from  aristocratical  distinctions 
and  hereditary  rank.  In  the  brightest  days  of  her  liberty,  when 
the  baffled  Persian  was  sent  back  over  the  blood-stained  waters  of 
the  Hellespont,  when  virtue  was  the  philosophy  of  her  schools, 
and  the  arts  and  sciences  had  attained  iheir  highest  excellence, 
Greece  had  her  privileged  classes.  So  also  had  Rome  in  the 
proudest  days  of  her  grandeur  and  glory,  when  patriotism  was 
ranked  pre-eminent  in  the  moral  code  of  her  gallant  people.  F] rig- 
land,  too,  whose  freedom  is  proclaimed  unparalleled  by  her  partial 
eulogists — England  selects  one-half  her  law-givers  by  the  glitter 
ing  star  a  monarch's  favor  "or  the  harlotry  of  genius"  attaches 
to  their  persons.  When,  as  is  beautifully  frescoed  on  the  walls 
of  yonder  Capitol.  Cincinnatus  was  called  from  the  plough  to  as 
sume  the  ensignia  of  power,  Rome  had  her  patricians  and  her  ple 
beians.  But  when,  as  is  there  also  pictured,  our  Putnam  was 
summoned  to  the  battle-fields  of  the  Revolution,  he  left  his  plough 
with  the  proud  consciousness  that  no  one  of  a  privileged  class — 
no  titled  lord  or  bannered  knight — could  by  right  of  birth  take  pre 
cedence  of  him  in  the  path  to  glory,  honor,  and  immortality.  But 
it  needs  not  the  deductions  of  reason,  the  examples  of  history,  or 
I  he  illustrations  of  ar^.  to  prove  that  the  principle  of  political  equal 
ity  is  the  vital  source,  as  it  is  the  almighty  power,  of  our  institu 
tions.  It  is  written  on  every  American  heart,  and  throbs  in  every 
pulse  of  freemen.  We  have  around  us  living  examples  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  theory,  and  its  efficiency  in  practice.  Among 
those  who  have  honored  us  with  their  presence,  are  many,  who  un 
aided  by  the  accidents  of  fortune,  or  the  prerogatives  of  birth,  have 
won  the  highest  positions  and  the  most  honorable  distinctions — 
men  who  in  the  forum,  the  council  chamber,  the  halls  of  legis 
lation,  as  well  as  on  the  battle-field  and  the  ocean  wave,  have 
nobly  sustained  the  honor  of  their  country,  winning  for  her  in 
deed  high  renown,  but  making  their  own  names  the  brightest 
jewels  in  the  diadem  of  her  glory.  To  such  men,  gentlemen,  we 
will  give  all  honor  and  praise  while  yet  they  live,  and  when  they 
are  taken  from  us,  should  the  insolent  foreigner  ask  for  their  tombs 
and  monuments,  tell  him  we  Americans  bury  our  illustrious  dead 
in  our  hearts. 


Among  those  to  whom  I  have  alluded,  is  one  whom  we  have 
especially  met  to  honor.  He  sought  not  California  in  the  wild 
and  reckless  spirit  of  adventure,  much  less  from  sordid  avarice,  to 
gather  the  golden  sands  of  her  mountain  streams,  or  the  bright 
pearls  of  her  ocean  waves;  but  having  won  distinction  as  the  rep 
resentative  of  his  native  State  in  the  halls  of  legislation — having 
bravely  led  her  gallant  sons  to  victory  on  the  battle-fields  of 
Mexico — he  left  home,  kindred,  and  friends,  to  join  a  people 
struggling  for  independence  and  the  right  of  self-government.  For 
the  aid  and  counsel  given  us  in  the  darkest  hour  of  "  the  winter 
of  our  discontent,"  California  was  not  unmindful,  and  soon  called 
him  to  the  position  which  he  now  occupies.  Of  the  ability,  dig 
nity,  and  patriotism  with  which  he  has  discharged  his  duties  as  a 
Senator,  I  need  not  speak.  The  record  is  enrolled  in  the  Capitol, 
and  will  attest  to  all  future  time  that  he  never  sacrificed  principle 
to  expediency,  or  his  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  to  party  purpose 
or  political  speculation.  Carrying  into  the  Senate  Chamber  ihe 
same  kind  feelings  and  courteous  deportment  which  has  endeared 
him  to  the  friends  of  his  social  circle,  he  has  gained  the  esteem 
and  regard  of  his  illustrious  compeers,  as  is  shown  by  the  presence 
of  those  around  us,  as  well  as  the  regrets  oP  many  at  their  una 
voidable  absence. 

I  give  you,  gentlemen,  the  health  of  the 

Hon.  John  B.  Weller:  A  man  true  to  himself,  his  friends,  his  country,  and  his  God. 


Mr.  WELLER. 

I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  sincerely  thank  you,  for  the  very  com 
plimentary  sentiment  which  has  just  been  drank.  The  honor  is 
the  more  highly  appreciated,  as  it  comes  from  those  who  have 
known  me  in  the  personal  and  social  relations  of  life.  The  posi 
tion  which  I  occupy  as  the  representative  of  our  State  in  the 
Senate  could  afford  me  neither  pleasure  nor  honor,  unless  I  en 
joyed  the  confidence  and  respect  of  my  constituency.  The  praise 
of  strangers  might  give  me  a  momentary  pleasure,  but  the  appro 
bation  of  those  who  have  known  me  long  and  well,  carries  joy 
and  gladness  to  the  heart. 


8 

We  are  some  six  thousand  miles  from  our  homes;  and  because 
of  this  and  our  isolated  position,  when  we  meet  here  we  meet  as 
brothers.  We  have  that  feeling  for  each  other  which  the  soldier 
bears  towards  those  who  have  been  associated  with  him  upon  the 
field  of  battle,  or  in  scenes  of  trial  and  danger.  Most  of  us  have 
shared  in  the  hardships  incident  lo  the  settlement  of  a  new  and 
distant  land,  and  our  meeting  around  this  festive  board  could  not 
be  otherwise  than  pleasant: 

"  For,  in  the  varied  scenes  of  life, 

Is  there  a  joy  so  sweet 
As  when,  amidst  its  busy  strife, 
Some  kindred  spirits  meet." 

We  have,  my  friends,  reason  to  be  proud  of  our  adopted  State. 
The  rapid  progress  we  have  made  in  developing  the  inexhaustible 
resources  of  our  distant  home,  has  attracted  the  wonder  and  admi 
ration  of  the  world.  A  country,  which  ten  years  ago  was  scarcely 
known  on  this  side  of  the  continent,  occupied  by  Mexicans  and 
Indians,  is  now  the  happy  home  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
gallant,  industrious  and  enterprising  Americans.  At  the  last  Pres 
idential  election,  although  the  youngest  in  the  Confederacy,  we 
compelled  nineteen  /)f  our  sisters  to  take  a  position  in  our  rear. 
The  rude  cabins  and  wretched  hovels  of  the  natives  have  disap 
peared,  and  cities  and  towns,  teeming  with  commerce,  have  sprung 
up,  as  if  by  magic,  in  their  place.  A  city  of  sixty  thousand  in 
habitants,  distinguished  for  the  energy  and  enterprise  of  her  citi 
zens,  distinguished  for  her  churches  and  her  schools,  her  intelli 
gence  and  refinement,  now  stands  where,  but  yesterday,  nothing 
but  a  few  miserable  tenements  of  unburnt  brick  could  be  found. 
Then  a  few  vessels  employed  in  whaling  and  trading  in  hides 
were  occasionally  seen  in  the  waters  of  the  magnificent  bay  of  San 
Francisco.  Now  we  have  splendid  ships  proudly  displaying  the 
flags  of  every  civilized  nation  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and,  in 
the  amount  of  tonnage,  equal  to  almost  any  port  in  the  United 
States,  save  New  York.  Our  seat  of  government  is  located  upon 
the  field  where,  less  than  ten  years  ago,  Captain  Sutler  cultivated 
his  wheat  with  Indian  labor,  now  containing  about  fifteen  or  six 
teen  thousand  inhabitants.  Splendid  churches  and  magnificent 
edifices  have  been  erected  where  the  Indian  wigwam  but  recently 


stood.  More  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  gold  has 
been  extracted  from  our  soil,  and  the  work  has  just  commenced. 
These  rapid  changes  have  taken  place  under  your  own  eye,  Mr. 
President,  for  you  were  one  of  the  active  and  efficient  members 
of  that  convention  which  shaped  and  formed  our  fundamental 
laws,  and  spoke  a  new  State  into  existence. 

We  say  to  our  friends  in  the  older  States,  give  us  good  roads 
across  the  continent,  and  protection  against  the  Indians,  whom 
your  policy  has  placed  between  us,  and  soon  California  will 
rank  amongst  the  first  in  the  Confederacy.  Give  the  hardy  and 
industrious  men  of  the  older  States,  who  are  now  pressed  by 
penury  and  want,  an  opportunity  of  reaching  us  in  safety,  and 
our  ever-verdant  valleys  will  soon  be  made  to  bloom  and  blossom 
as  the  rose.  Then  in  that  golden  land  they  can  soon  surround 
themselves  with  all  the  comforts  of  happy  homes.  Give  us  a  rail 
road  across  our  own  territory,  and  who  can  predict  our  future 
greatness! 

We  love  our  adopted  State;  we  love  her  genial  health-giving 
climate,  where  the  fruits  of  the  South  grow  side  by  side  with  those 
of  the  North.  We  love  her  lofty  mountains,  her  forests  towering 
to  the  clouds,  her  rich  and  productive  valleys,  and  her  gallant 
and  warm-hearted  people.  That  wild  fanaticism  which  occasion 
ally  sweeps  over  a  portion  of  our  country,  threatening  the  perma 
nency  of  the  Government,  finds  no  abiding-place  with  us.  If  any 
dissatisfaction  may  exist  amongst  us,  it  can  be  easily  removed  by 
bringing  us  closer  to  the  centre,  and  allowing  us  to  see  our  brethren 
here  more  frequently.  We  want  to  feel  that  we  are  united  by 
afTection,  as  well  as  the  ties  of  interest.  Give  us  an  equal  share 
in  the  blessings  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  my  word  for  it, 
California  will  be  the  last  to  disturb  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of 
the  Union.  You  must  strike  from  our  memories  the  glorious 
history  of  our  past  career,  and  destroy  all  our  brilliant  anticipations 
of  the  future,  before  we  can  cease  to  love,  honor,  and  respect  that 
flag  which  is  yonder  so  gracefully  displayed.  It  is  the  emblem  of 
our  Union 5  and  as  it  has  never  been  disgraced  or  dishonored,  we 
have  reason  to  be  proud  of  it.  In  the  beautiful  language  of  one 
of  our  own  poets: 
2 


10 

"What  God  in  His  wisdom  and  mercy  designed, 

And  armed  with  His  weapons  of  thunder, 
Not  all  the  earth's  despots  and  factions  combined, 
Have  the  power  to  conquer  or  sunder ! 

The  union  of  lakes — the  union  of  lands — 
The  union  of  States  none  can  sever — 
The  union  of  hearts — the  union  of  hands — 
And  the  Flag  of  the  Union  forever 

And  ever ! 
The  Flag  of  our  Union  forever !  " 

But,  gentlemen,  I  came  here  not  to  speak,  but  to  participate  in 
the  rich  repast  which  is  spread  before  us.  Accept  again  my  thanks 
for  your  kindness  to  me  on  this  as  well  as  upon  all  other  occasions, 
and  allow  me  to  give  a  sentiment  which  1  know  will  be  acceptable 
to  you  all.  I  give  you  the  health  of  an  able  and  efficient  public 
officer,  and  an  honest,  man — The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


Mr.  GUTHRIE. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  Festive  speeches  are  not 
in  my  line.  For  more  than  forty  years  I  have  been  dealing  with 
realities  at  the  Bar  ^nd  elsewhere,  and  have  no  skill  for  occasions 
like  this. 

The  Senator  whom  you  have  assembled  to  honor,  and  whose 
consistent  and  reliable  course  as  a  Democrat  entitles  him  to  the 
confidence  of  his  friends  and  constituents,  and,  indeed,  to  the 
Democracy  at  large,  has  been  pleased  to  allude  to  me  in  the  most 
flattering  terms.  I  must  leave  my  life  and  the  record  I  have  made 
in  the  Treasury  Department,  to  the  indulgent  consideration  of  my 
friends  and  country. 

You,  Mr.  President,  have  referred  in  patriotic  terms  to  the  flag 
that  unfolds  its  stars  and  its  stripes  over  the  entrance  of  this  hall. 
That  flag  is  consecrated  by  the  blood  spilt  in  our  Revolutionary 
struggle,  and  is  identified  with  our  existence  amongst  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  When  first  displayed,  it  had  thirteen  stripes  and 
thirteen  stars  in  its  folds.  Kentucky,  my  native  State  and  my 
home,  was  the  fourteenth  star  added  to  the  old  thirteen.  Many 
other  glorious  stars  have  been  added  since.  California,  the  State 
which  the  Senator  represents,  is  the  thirty-first  star  and  the  last  in 


11 

that  glorious  constellation;  but  there  is  room  for  many  more. 
The  lovers  of  equal  rights  and  equal  privileges  rejoice  as  the  con 
stellation  increases,  because  it  is  the  flag  of  freedom.  It  is  yours 
and  it  is  mine,  and,  what  is  more,  it  is  the  flag  of  our  Union. 
The  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  our  people  have  hitherto,  under 
all  circumstances,  rallied  to  its  support.  It  embraces  in  its  folds 
both  the  old  and  the  new  States,  and  under  its  folds  all  have 
equal  rights  and  equal  privileges.  Strike  one  star  from  that  flag, 
and  you  destroy  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  of  the  States, 
and  the  future  of  the  freest  nation  that  has  existed  in  the  tide  of 
time. 

California,  Oregon,  and  Washington,  on  the  west  coast,  are 
separated  from  the  Atlantic,  Southern,  and  Western  States  by 
mountains  and  forests,  yet,  in  our  march  to  maturity,  the  inter 
mediate  space  will  be  filled  by  new  States,  with  representative 
governments,  and  new  stars  will  appear  in  the  folds  of  that  flag. 
The  railroad  and  the  telegraph  will  soon  conquer  both  space  and 
distance,  and  give  to  the  west  coast  the  commerce,  and  secure  the 
brotherhood,  of  all  the  States.  California  will  soon  learn  the 
strength  of  a  State  is  not  in  the  gold  picked  up  in  her  streams  or 
dug  from  her  mountains  and  valleys.  Bounteous  nature  has  given 
the  west  coast  the  plain,  the  hill,  and  the  mountain,  with  a  salu 
brious  climate  and  a  fertile  soil,  which,  cultivated,  will  be  more 
prized  than  gold.  Then  the  west  coast  will  yield  cheerful,  happy, 
and  plentiful  homes  to  millions  upon  millions  of  an  industrious 
population,  with  ample  means  of  free  trade  with  all  the  States,  and 
of  an  extended  and  civilizing  commerce  with  all  the  islands  and 
shores  of  the  Pacific.  You  may  be  assured,  when  commerce  and 
civilization  shall  be  extended  to  the  shores  and  islands  of  the  Paci 
fic,  religion  with  its  steeples,  and  liberty  and  self-government  with 
the  flag  of  freedom,  will  also  be  planted  there. 

Allow  me  to  give  you  that  better  day  for  California  and  the 
west  coast,  with  the  hope-  that  no  star  will  be  struck  from  that 
flag,  and  that  its  stripes  will  long  remain  the  terror  of  the  op 
pressors  of  freedom,  and  its  stars  the  emblem  of  a  happy  and  pros 
perous  Union. 


12 

By  the  President.  The  health  of  the  Hon.  A.  P.  BUTLER— the  enlightened  jurist, 
patriot  statesman,  and  chivalrous  gentleman.  Like  the  palmetto  of  his  own  loved 
Carolina,  his  heart  is  deep-rooted  in  its  native  soil,  but  radiating  like  the  fibres  of 
its  evergreen  leaves,  his  sympathies  are  with  the  wronged  and  oppressed  of  every 
land. 

Mr.  BUTLER. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  The  time,  the  occasion, 
and  the  import  of  the  sentiment  just  pronounced,  and  the  spirit  in 
which  it  has  been  received,  have  given  me  sincere  gratification; 
and  I  shall  not  attempt  in  any  set  phrases  to  return  you  my  thanks 
for  it.  I  feel  that  I  cat)  trace  to  its  source  much  personal  kind 
ness;  but  I  recognise  in  it  something  more  to  enhance  my  grati 
fication — a  tribute  to  South  Carolina;  and,  gentlemen,  when  you 
wish  to  touch  my  heart,  you  could  not  more  effectually  do  so 
than  by  such  a  token  of  regard. 

I  pass  from  this  to  the  occasion  of  your  meeting,  and  it  has  in 
it,  to  my  mind,  something  more  than  a  festive  tribute  to  your 
guest.  It  has  in  it  the  offering  of  friendship  and  just  approval  of 
a  public  man,  who  has  not  walked  the  theatre  of  an  eventful 
period  without  making  his  mark.  He  has  been  for  several 
years  (treading  thrpugh  a  process  of  trial  and  difficulty)  the 
representative  of  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  commonwealths 
that  has  ever  been  introduced  into  the  history  of  the  world — a 
commonwealth  that  has  tributaries  in  its  character,  having  many 
sources,  to  make  a  current  of  commanding  interest. 

1  heard  Mr.  Calhoun  once  say,  (in  his  usual  marked  language, 
conveying  in  a  sentence  the  germ  of  history,)  that  the  child 
was  then  born  who  would  live  to  see  settlements  made  on  our 
Pacific  coast,  with  a  larger  population  than  was  now  on  the 
Atlantic,  and  with  a  civilization  such  as  never  heretofore  had  been 
contemplated. 

Juvenal  said  that  Rome  had  her  Tiber  mingled  with  the  Orontes: 
I  think  we  may  say  that  our  Tiber,  with  its  various  tributaries, 
making  a  current  of  Anglo-Saxon  identity,  will  ultimately  give 
character  to  the  eastern  Orontes;  and  that  the  sentence  of  the 
poet — 

Jam  pridem  Syrus,  in  Tiberim  defluxit  Orontes 

may  be  paraphrased — 

Influit  at  Syrium  nunc  Tibris  nosier  Orontem. 


13 

In  this  current  are  mingled  the  intrepid  and  sagacious  enterprise  of 
New  England — the  splendid  and  controlling  adventures  of  New 
York — the  undaunted  perseverance  of  Connecticut — the  daring 
and  inspiring  spirit  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  like  ringing  metal, 
becoming  more  pure  by  trial — the  dashing  and  generous  spirit  of 
the  South,  asking  only  for  a  fair  field  and  a  clear  sky;  and,  what 
swells  the  current  with  cumulative  force,  the  uncalculating  courage 
of  the  West,  marked  by  a  fertility  of  expedients  in  trials  of  danger 
and  difficulty.  These  are  elements  of  an  undeveloped  and  eventful 
history.  1  will  not,  to  his  face,  backbite  my  friend  so  far  as  to  say 
he  is  the  entire  representative  of  all  these  attributes;  for  he  might 
deny  it  and  make  a  personal  affair  of  it;  but  I  will  say,  that  his 
catholic  spirit,  his  frank  deportment,  his  manly  bearing,  his  intel 
ligent  address,  (and  he  has  his  share  of  it,)  and  his  enlarged  experi 
ence,  have  won  rny  respect  and  regard;  without  bigotry,  his  mind 
is  lifted  above  local  prejudice. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  am  transgressing:   I  give  you — 

California;  Great  note — greater  to  be ;  I  think  it  probable  she  will  soon  want  elbow 
room — and  that  she  will  ultimately  whip  China,  and  take  possession  of  the  garden 
of  Eden  as  a  new  country. 


By  the  President.  TEXAS — once  "a  Lone  Star,"  she  now  shines  bright  in  the  constel 
lation  of  freedom.  She  showed  California  the  way  into  the  Union  :  California  will 
never  show  her  the  way  out  of  it.  May  the  friendship  existing  between  her  en 
lightened  and  distinguished  Senator  and  ours,  but  typify  that  iron  bond  of  union 
which  shall  indissolubly  unite  the  interests,  sympathies,  and  affections  of  the  peoples 
of  both  States. 

Mr.  RUSK. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  I  have  been  taken  by  sur 
prise.  The  sentiment  just  given — the  kind  reception  it  has  met, 
demands  a  reply,  and  yet  I  confess  I  am  at  a  loss  what  to  say.  The 
compliment  paid  my  State  she  is  well  entitled  to;  that  to  myself  is 
perhaps  not  so  well  deserved.  1  should  probably  speak  of  my 
friend,  the  Senator  on  my  left,  (Col.  WELLER,)  to  do  honor  to 
whom  this  banquet  is  given.  Should  I  speak  of  him  in  such  terms 
as  my  heart  would  prompt,  and  my  judgment  dictate,  the  warmth 
of  the  eulogy  would  cause  him  to  blush ;  while  those  less  acquainted 


14 

with  the  sterling  qualities  of  his  head  and  heart  than  I  am,  would 
pronounce  it  gross  flattery.  I  shall,  therefore,  content  myself  by 
saying,  that  his  recorded  history  is  at  once  his  best  witness  and 
most  eloquent  eulogy.  That  record,  for  its  instructive  wisdom, 
will  be  read  with  deep  interest  long  after  he  and  his  present  asso 
ciates  shall  have  passed  from  off  the  stage  of  action,  proving  that 
throughout  his  public  career  he  has  ever  been  moved  by  that  first 
and  highest  impulse  of  the  patriot's  heart — love  of  country.  Shall 
I  speak  of  Texas?  Her  past  history  is  before  the  world,  and  1 
feel  sure  her  future  will  prove  true  to  the  glorious  reminiscences 
of  that  past — marked  by  the  same  unfaltering  courage,  chivalrous 
gallantry,  and  loyal  devotion  in  the  cause  of  constitutional  freedom . 
In  every  hour  of  trial,  she  will  prove  one  of  the  main  pillars  of 
support  of  that  Constitution  to  which  all  Americans  yield  the 
homage  of  the  heart's  deepest  devotion.  Shall  1  speak  of  Cali 
fornia  ?  That  young  giant  of  the  far  West,  in  tones  audible  to  the 
dullest  ear,  is  speaking  for  herself,  telling  a  wondrous  tale  of  rapid 
growth  in  all  the  elements  of  wealth,  prosperity,  and  greatness, 
almost  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  States.  True,  she  has  recently 
exhibited  some  of  the  wild  pranks  and  excesses  incident  to  the 
warm  blood  and  ardent  temperament  of  vigorous  youth;  but  I  have 
every  confidence,  that  in  the  days  of  her  maturity,  when  she  shall 
have  sown  her  wild  oats,  she  will  turn  those  very  energies  to  the 
earnest  duties  of  national  life,  and  yet  become  one  of  the  balance- 
wheels  of  our  complex  political  machinery,  performing  her  appro 
priate  duties  with  regularity  and  constancy.  My  own  State  opened 
the  door  to  her  admission,  and  feels  a  just  pride  in  all  that  pertains 
to  the  development  of  her  vast  and  varied  resources.  Shall  I  speak 
of  the  late  presidential  election  ?  That  is  over:  justice  and  political 
truth  have  triumphed,  and  it  is  not  to  my  taste  to  indulge  in  too 
much  elation  over  a  success  we  had  every  right  to  expect  from  the 
intelligence  of  the  people,  as  due  to  the  correctness  of  our  princi 
ples  and  the  justice  of  our  cause;  nor  do  I  regard  it  as  generous 
continually  to  remind  a  beaten  opponent  of  his  defeat.  Shall  I 
speak  of  our  Union  ?  That  depends  for  its  preservation  upon 
deeds,  not  words — and  words  are  too  feeble  to  bear  the  burthen 
of  thought  that  would  struggle  for  utterance  upon  such  a  theme. 
With  many  thanks  for  the  kind  partiality  which  has  called  me  up, 


15 

allow  me  to  close  these  desultory  remarks  by  offering  you  a  senti 
ment: 

Our  glorious  Constitution — may  it  be  perpetual. 


By  Mr.  C.  E.  Carr.  The  health  of  the  Hon.  A.  G.  BROWN,  a  statesman  of  ripe 
experience  and  indomitable  energy;  ever  animated  by  the  truest  spirit  of  patriotism, 
and  ever  vigilant  in  promoting  national  interests.  Carolina  may  be  proud  that  she 
gave  birth  to  such  a  son,  and  Mississippi  that  she  claims  him  as  her  citizen. 

Mr.  BROWN. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  While  I  respond,  without 
objection,  to  the  sentiment  so  handsomely  offered  by  my  friend 
over  the  way,  you  must  allow  me  to  say  that  a  speech  was  not  in 
cluded  in  the  bargain  that  brought  me  here  this  evening.  Like 
my  friends  who  have  already  spoken,  I  came  to  enjoy  the  creature 
comforts  which  all  of  us  knew  were  to  be  spread  with  a  profuse 
hand. 

This  is  a  California  banquet  in  honor  of  a  California  Senator. 
Had  you  taken  note  of  my  past  course,  and  been  disposed  to  re 
sent  what  some  have  called  an  injustice  to  your  State,  1  should  not 
have  been  bidden  to  this  feast.  When  California  asked  admission 
into  the  Union,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  oppose  her  admission.  I 
did  so  on  principle,  and  in  defence  of  what  seemed  to  me  to  be 
solemn  obligations  to  the  Constitution  and  the  rights  of  the  States. 
My  judgment  now  approves  what  I  then  did;  but  in  my  heart  of 
hearts  there  is  not  concealed  a  sentiment  of  hostility  to  your  noble 
State.  She  is  in  the  Union,  and  I  am  proud  of  her.  She  is  in 
the  Union,  and  I  would  go  as  far  to  defend  her  rights  or  subserve 
her  interests,  as  I  would  to  defend  the  rights  or  subserve  the  in 
terests  of  any  other  State  in  the  Confederacy.  Neither  Texas  nor 
California  were  supposed  by  many  to  have  entered  through  the 
straight  gate.  But  they  are  in ,  and  palsied  be  the  arm  that  would 
attempt  to  thrust  them  out.  No  brighter  gems  glitter  in  the  dia 
dem  of  our  national  glory.  Texas  on  the  ATLANTIC,  and  Cali 
fornia  on  the  PACIFIC,  keep  watch  on  the  movements  of  the 
world;  and  while  the  older  sisters  take  that  repose  which  age  ren 
ders  necessary,  these  lynx-eyed  lasses  will  descry  clanger,  if  it 
comes,  while  it  is  yet  afar  off,  and  by  their  timely  warning  arouse 


16 

the  whole  household  to  action.  Texas  is  almost  as  remarkable 
for  the  fertility  of  her  soil  as  California  is  for  (he  richness  of  her 
mines;  hut  if  1  were  asked  in  what  the  greatest,  treasure  of  both 
consisted,  I  would  say,  in  the  dauntless  courage  and  gushing  pa 
triotism  of  their  people.  If  I  did  not  owe  my  birth  to  South 
Carolina,  and  my  success  in  life  to  Mississippi,  I  could  almost 
wish  that  I  had  been  born  in  Texas  and  reared  in  California.  Of 
California  I  can  say  with  truth,  that  while  duty  constrained  me 
to  oppose  her  admission  into  the  Union,  she  has  in  my  judgment 
conferred  more  substantial  benefits,  and  done  it  in  less  time  and 
with  a  freer  hand,  than  any  Stale  in  the  Union.  I  would  reci 
procate  these  benefits.  In  return  for  the  stream  of  gold  which  she  is 
continually  pouring  into  our  lap,  I  would  send  messages  of  fraternal 
love,  done  up  in  electric  fluid  and  shot  with  lightning  speed  along 
the  telegraphic  wires.  I  would,  as  soon  as  possible,  bring  our  dis 
tant  sister  nearer  home  by  throwing  a  railroad  across  the  continent, 
and  sending  the  iron-horse  to  bring  her  back  to  the  paternal  roof. 
These  things  can  and  will  be  done.  But  let  me  counsel  you, 
my  friends,  to  forbearance;  be  patient.  By-and-by,  at  the  right 
time,  and  in  the  right  way,  you  will  find  yourselves  linked  to  the 
older  States  by  bars  of  iron  and  messages  of  love,  like  rivers  of 
gold,  pouring  in  continually  upon  you. 

A  railroad  and  telegraphic  communication  we  must  and  will 
have;  but  we  must  have  it  without  the  "material  aid"  of  this 
Government.  I  am  not  about  to  discuss  the  question;  but  I  may 
at  least  say,  on  this  occasion,  that  for  a 'thousand  reasons  I  shall 
oppose  connecting  the  Government  with  these  schemes.  Such 
connection  can  only  lead  to  embarrassments,  political  strife,  long 
delays,  and  to  final  defeat.  The  Government,  to  the  extent  of  its 
undisputed  constitutional  powers,  may  aid  the  work;  this  far  it 
ought  to  go;  but  not  one  inch  beyond. 

I  hope  and  confidently  predict,  that  the  future  of  California  will 
be  even  more  brilliant  than  the  past.  It  has  been  sometimes  pre 
dicted,  that  California  will  by-and-by  become  impatient  of  the 
restraints  imposed  on  her  by  the  Union,  and  that  she  will  take  the 
lead  in  setting  up  an  independent  republic  on  the  Pacific.  These 
are  fearful  auguries,  and  I  hope  they  are  never  to  be  realized. 
California  will  be  true  to  her  allegiance,  and  I  hope  the  older 


17 

States  on  the  Atlantic  will  treat  her  with  such  affectionate  regard 
as  to  make  th'e  connection  between  them  a  blessing  to  both  and  a 
burthen  to  neither.  But  I  must  say,  that  if  at  any  time  California, 
in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  discretion,  and  in  pursuit  of  those  bless 
ings  which  are  the  gifts  of  God,  shall  elect,  in  her  capacity  as  a 
sovereign,  to  quit  the  Union,  no  federal  gun  shall  be  fired  with 
my  consent  to  bring  her  back.  I  would  deal  out  justice  to  her  with 
a  liberal  and  even  with  a  lavish  hand;  but  if  she  chose  to  quit  the 
family,  she  shall  go  unmolested  so  far  as  I  am  concerned.  This 
is  my  notion  of  State-rights.  A  Union  that  was  founded  in  con 
sent  can  never,  in  my  judgment,  be  maintained  by  force. 

It  is  fit,  my  friends,  that  you  should  in  this  and  every  other 
way  honor  your  gallant  Senator.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of 
him  at  home,  it  is,  1  am  sure,  the  judgment  of  all  his  peers  that 
he  has  been  to  California  a  faithful  steward.  No  interest  of  hers 
has  suffered  in  his  hands j  and  on  the  slightest  intimation  that  her 
rights  were  in  jeopardy,  his  eloquent  voice  has  rang  like  a  bugle 
through  all  the  alcoves  of  the  Senate. 

Your  Senator,  my  friends,  is  present,  and  I  shall  on  that 
acccount  forbear  to  speak  of  him  as  he  deserves.  We  came  into 
Congress  together  seventeen  years  ago,  (I  m/iy  say  that,  as  we 
are  both  married,  and  there  are  no  ladies  present,)  and  I  have 
known  him  intimately  and  well  ever  since.  If  California  would 
honor  herself,  she  may  do  it  effectually  byre-electing  John  B. 
Weller  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  am*  detaining  you.  In  the  midst  of  these 
festive  scenes,  and  while  the  wine-cup  passes  merrily  about,  let 
us  not  forget  that  there  is  one  afar  off,  dearer  to  our  honored  friend 
than  this,  than  these,  than  all — one  whose  eye  will  watch  his 
coming,  and  grow  brighter  when  he  comes.  I  give  you,  gentle 
men—  The  health  of  Mrs.  Weller. 


18 

By  the  President.  The  health  of  the  Hon.  C.  0  CLAT,  Jr.,  the  youngest  member  of 
the  Senate,  but,  like  Pyrrhus,  uniting  in  his  single  person  the  gallantry  of  Diomedes 
with  the  wisdom  of  Nestor,  he  is  ever  ready  to  protect  private  rights,  to  promote 
public  interests,  and  avenge  national  wrongs. 

Mr.  CLAY. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  I  did  not  come  here  with 
any  expectation  of  being  called  out  in  a  war  of  words;  much  less 
did  I  anticipate  any  response  to  so  flattering  a  challenge  as  that 
which  has  been  offered.  It  is  so  unmerited  and  unexpected,  that 
I  am  wholly  unprepared  to  answer,  in  a  manner  worthy  of  my 
challenger,  or  of  our  mutual  friends  who  are  here  assembled.  The 
prodigality  of  his  kindness  and  partiality  has  quite  disarmed  and 
overpowered  me.  He  has  put  me  Jwrs  de  combat  at  the  onset. 
Nothing  sustains  me,  in  this  unequal  contest,  but  the  conscious 
ness  that  I  am  in  the  presence  of  friends,  and  that  the  chief  of 
them,  on  this  occasion — he  whom  we  have  met  to  honor — is  the 
real  person  to  whom  the  incense  of  praise  is  intended  to  be  offered. 
For  his  sake  I  could  almost  endure  to  be  suffocated  by  the  fumes 
of  the  censer. 

His  devotion  to  his  friends  entitles  him  to  their  untiring  and 
patient  fidelity  undbr  all  circumstances  and  in  any  emergency. 
His  devotion  to  his  constituents  entitles  him  to  their  grateful  plau 
dit,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,"  and  to  the  highest 
rewards  they  can  bestow.  Few  men  could  have  achieved  as 

much — none  could  have  striven  more — for  the  interests  of  Cali- 

• 

fornia.  Standing  alone  as  her  representative  in  the  United  States 
Senate  during  this  Congress,  he  might  safely  challenge  a  com 
parison  of  his  works,  in  behalf  of  California,  with  those  of  any 
Senators  in  behalf  of  their  State.  I  might,  in  proof  of  this  asser 
tion,  designate  the  measures  originated  and  carried  by  him  through 
the  Senate,  intended  to  facilitate  the  intercourse,  harmonize  the 
interests,  and  consolidate  the  union  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
States,  and  to  develop  the  great  and  growing  resources,  and  mag 
nify  the  prodigious  wealth  of  California.  Rut  these  are  matters 
of  history,  attested  by  the  record.  That  he  has  lost  nothing  by 
non-claim  that  is  due  to  his  State,  even  his  enemies  (if  he  have 
any)  must  concede.  The  only  complaint  preferred  against  him 
by  his  peers  in  the  Senate,  is,  that  he  claims  too  much.  He  has 


19 

been  guilty  of  a  venial  error,  one  that  leans  on  virtue's  side;  that 
of  asking  (in  the  opinion  of  some  of  us)  more  for  California  than  her 
just  share.  That  she  has  not  gotten  all  he  asked,  has  been  owing 
to  the  present  complexion  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  His 
eminent  success  is  attributable  not  merely  to  his  vigilance,  in 
dustry,  and  ability,  but,  in  a  great  degree,  to  iiis  catholic  political 
sentiments,  and  his  expansive  patriotism. 

Without  any  sectional  bigotry  or  ill-judged  fanaticism,  and, 
with  the  fullest  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  the  States  and  of  the 
people,  his  policy  has  not  been  narrowed  by  lines  of  latitude  or 
of  longitude,  or  been  marked  by  selfish  partialities  or  unjust  pre 
judices.  Coming  from  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  the 
distant  shore  of  the  Pacific,  he  has  not  been  the  advocate  of  the 
North  or  the  South;  but  the  impartial  judge  in  their  unfortunate 
contest.  If  his  history  had  not  been  familiar  to  the  people  of  Ala 
bama  before  I  met  him;  had  he  been  a  stranger,  unknown  to 
fame,  I  should  have  been  at  fault  to  designate  the  place  of  his 
nativity  and  of  his  education.  My  fond  hope  is,  that  California 
and  the  nascent  States  of  the  Pacific  slopes  may  continue  to  send, 
as  their  representatives,  in  the  Federal  legislature,  such  men  as 
he  and  his  colleagues,  and  the  delegates  of  Ojjegon  and  Washing 
ton:  men  who  will  be  just  and  fear  not — who  will  aim  at  no 
other  ends  than  their  country's,  God's,  and  truth's. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  offer  you  a  sentiment,  in  all  sincerity; 
one  which  comes  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  and  not  from  the 
mere  surface  of  my  lips. 

California — Her  auriferous  lands  can  produce  no  fruitage  of  more  sterling  worth 
than  the  Exotic  from  the  Buckeye  State;  in  entrusting  to  him  her  dearest  rights,  she 
has  done  well  in  the  past;  in  the  future  she  never  can  do  better. 

Mr.  BRADFORD. 

I  rise,  Mr.  President,  to  propose  the  health  of  the  junior  Senator 
from  Michigan.  It  is  a  source  of  regret  to  all  here,  that  General 
Cass,  the  senior  Senator  from  that  State,  and  veteran  statesman, 
is  absent  upon  this  joyous  occasion.  But,  sir,  in  his  colleague  we 
recognise  an  able  champion  of  the  Michigan  Democracy,  a  sterling 
gentleman,  and  an  honest  man.  We,  of  the  extreme  west,  who 


20 

are  fresh  from  the  scenes  of  a  victorious  party  in  California, 
regret — yes,  deeply  regret — that  the  State  from  which  our  friend 
hails  was  surrendered  lately  to  our  political  foes.  But,  sir,  we  all 
hope — nay,  the  country  demands — that  this  surrender  shall  be 
temporary;  and,  in  proposing  the  health  of  the  Hon.  Charles  E. 
Stuart,  I  may  be  permitted  to  request  that  he  will  tell  us  some 
thing  about  the  prospects  of  the  Democracy  of  Michigan. 


Mr.  STUART. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  Like  others  who  have  pre 
ceded  me,  I  can  with  truth  say,  that  in  joining  with  you  on  this 
occasion,  to  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  your  distinguished  Senator, 
I  did  not  anticipate  making  a  speech.  But,  sir,  the  very  flattering 
terms  in  which  my  adopted  State,  my  honorable  and  distinguished 
colleague,  and  myself,  have  just  been  alluded  to,  seem  to  demand 
of  me  some  response. 

My  worthy  friend,  Mr.  Bradford,  desires  me  to  tell  you  some 
thing  of  the  Democracy  of  Michigan  and  our  prospects.  It  is 
known  to  you,  Mrv  President,  that  the  party  calling  itself  Repub 
lican  carried  that  State  by  nearly  twenty  thousand  majority. 

Whether  the  Democrats  there  will  be  able  to  reclaim  the  State, 
is  one  of  those  problems  lying  in  the  future,  and  which  time  alone 
can  solve.  But,  sir,  adopting  the  sentiment  and  courage  of  a  gal 
lant  hero,  "we  can  try." 

And  when  it  is  remembered,  that  it  is  only  about  three-quarters 
of  a  century  since  our  fathers,  representing  a  few  feeble  colonies 
along  the  Atlantic,  with  a  vast  continent  behind  them,  whose  ex 
tent  and  characteristics  were  then  unknown,  laid  the  corner-stone 
of  a  nation,  whose  people,  by  their  energy,  enterprise,  and  perse 
verance,  have  crossed  that  continent  with  their  settlements,  cover 
ing  it  with  all  the  emblems  of  civilization  and  refinement,  and 
that  they  now.  sir,  from  your  State  and  the  adjoining  Territories, 
look  out  over  the  Pacific,  whose  waters  float  their  commerce, 
toward  the  continent  of  Asia;  we  are  inspired  with  a  renewed 
confidence  in  those  great  principles  of  Democratic  truth,  a  firm 
adherence  to  which  has  produced  such  mighty  results;  and  believ- 


21 

ing  that  what  man  has  clone  man  can  do,  we  hesitate  not  to  assure 
the  Democracy  of  the  far  west,  and  the  whole  Union,  that  the 
gallant  Democrats  of  Michigan  will  recover  their  ascendancy  in 
that  State,  and  bring  it  once  again  into  Democratic  line. 

it  has  been  well  and  wisely  said,  sir,  by  the  distinguished  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  that  we  have  much  to  fear  from  our  un 
exampled  prosperity.  This  is  a  great  truth,  sir,  and  lamentable 
as  it  is  true. 

Yes,  sir,  in  humiliation  we  must  confess,  that  were  we  this  day 
borne  down  with  taxation  and  poverty,  we  should  have  neither 
dine  nor  inclination  for  finding  fault  with  each  other.  And  thus 
it  seems,  sir,  that  the  prosperity  of  nations,  like  that  of  families, 
too  often  hazards  domestic  peace  and  safety. 

But,  sir,  as  in  families  so  among  States,  the  remedy  lies  in  con 
ciliation,  kindness,  and  mutual  forbearance;  in  avoiding  all  which 
can  aggravate,  and  giving  heartfelt  expression  to  all  which  can  en 
dear  them  to  each  other: 

By  being  to  their  faults  a  little  blind, 
And  to  their  virtues  ever  kind. 

By  one  of  those  changes  incident  to  political  life  I  was  deprived 
of  any  participation,  sir,  in  the  admission  of  California  into  the 
Union.  It  may  not,  therefore,  be  improper  for  me  to  say,  that 
had  I  been  then  in  Congress  I  should  certainly  have  given  my 
vote  for  that  measure. 

There  were,  in  that  instance,  sir,  both  the  requisite  population 
and  imperative  necessity.  And,  before  these  considerations,  sir, 
all  notions  of  mere  form  and  regularity  of  proceeding,  when  legis 
lating  on  such  questions,  must  and  ought  to  yield  to  the  far  higher 
considerations  of  public  good  and  public  necessity. 

But,  Mr.  President,  brevity,  while  a  virtue  generally,  is  especially 
so  on  an  occasion  like  this.  Permit  me,  therefore,  to  conclude  by 
saying,  what  in  any  other  connection  might  seem  egotistical,  that 
I  claim  some  knowledge  of  those  feelings  of  gratitude  which  per 
vade  the  heart  of  him  who  has  received  the  highest  honors  from 
an  adopted  State.  And  well,  sir,  full  well,  do  I  know  your  hon 
ored  Senator  and  distinguished  guest.  We  have  served,  sir,  for 
years  together;  and  to  his  industry,  energy,  great  ability  and  high 


22 

sense  of  honor,  my  testimony,  though  in  his  presence,  must  be 
here  cheerfully  given  to  you ,  his  constituents  and  friends.  Of  him 
and  for  him,  then,  sir,  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying,  that 

"The  bridegroom  may  forget  the  bride 
Was  made  his  wedded  wife  yest'reen, 
The  monarch  may  forget  the  crown 
That  on  his  brow  an  hour  has  been, 
The  mother  may  forget  the  child 
That  smiles  sae  sweetly  on  her  knee, 
But '  he'll '  remember  you  'my  friends,' 
And  all  that  you  have  done  for  'him.' " 


By  the  President.  KENTUCKY — Like  the  gushing  streams  that  unite  on  her  borders 
and  form  the  mighty  river  which  flows  on  resistless  to  the  ocean,  the  valor,  energy 
and  patriotism  of  her  sons  have  ever  shone  conspicuous  where  sufferings  were  to 
be  endured,  dangers  encountered,  and  victory  won  in  the  cause  of  freedom. 

Mr.  THOMPSON. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  The  beautiful  compliment 
which  has  just  been  paid  to  Kentucky,  the  kindly  spirit  in  which 
it  was  conceived,  and  the  generous  enthusiasm  with  which  it  has 
been  received,  demand  an  acknowledgment  I  should  in  vain 
endeavor  to  express  in  words.  Could  I  embody  that  which  is 
most  within  my  heart;  could  I  give  my  thoughts  expression  and 
throw  my  feelings  into  words,  I  would  speak;  but,  as  it  is,  my 
thoughts  are  voiceless,  save  for  the  utterance  of  the  simple  heart 
felt  emotion  that  I  thank  you — thank  you  in  the  name  of  all  the 
sons  of  Kentucky — the  living  and  the  dead.  Yet  I  will  add, 
that  from  no  Slate,  and  from  no  people  of  any  State,  can  expres 
sions  of  regard  and  commendation  be  more  acceptable  to  the  peo 
ple  of  Kentucky  than  from  the  people  of  California.  Both 
peoples  have,  in  fact,  been  the  pioneers  of  perilous  and  daring 
enterprise,  carrying  forward  the  school-house  as  the  Israelites  did 
the  ark,  building  the  log  cabin  on  the  site  of  the  Indian  wigwam, 
and  rearing  the  unpretending  meeting-house,  but  yet  the  temple 
of  the  living  God,  in  places  where  the  wild  savage  once  had  altars 
red  with  the  blood  of  victims  sacrificed  in  superstitious  rites  to  their 
idol  gods. 


23 

As  has  already  been  said,  Kentucky  was  the  first  new  Slate 
added  to  the  American  Confederacy;  and  her  bold  hunters  were 
the  first  pioneers  into  the  western  wilderness,  driving  back  the 
wild  beast  of  the  forest  and  the  still  more  savage  Indian  to  their 
lonely  lair.  California  is  the  last  which  has  joined  our  glorious 
Union;  and  those  of  her  hardy  and  enterprising  settlers  who  pen 
etrated  the  gorges  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  scaled  their  rugged 
heights,  forded  the  deep  and  rapid  rivers  which  interposed,  and 
made  good  their  way  over  the  long  and  weary  plains,  till  they 
reached  the  slopes  of  the  distant  Pacific,  first  saw  the  bright  waters 
of  the  boundless  ocean,  and  first  heard  the  wild  music  of  its  waves 
as  they  rolled  in  and  crested  with  glittering  spray  the  rock-bound 
coast  of  California,  can  well  and  truly  appreciate  the  dangers,  suf 
ferings  and*  privations  which  they  endured  who  first  settled  in  the 
"backwoods  beyond  the  mountains." 

But,  Mr.  President,  I,  as  others  have  said,  came  not  here  to 
make  a  speech,  nor  yet  merely  to  enjoy  the  creature  comforts  so 
profusely  spread  before  us,  but  to  manifest,  by  my  presence,  my 
high  esteem  and  regard,  and  my  full  appreciation  of  the  merits  of 
the  distinguished  Senator,  to  honor  whom  this  banquet  is  given.  I, 
sir,  have  known  your  Senator  long  and  intimately  in  private  and 
in  public  life,  in  peace  and  in  war;  and,  in  all  truth  and  sincerity, 
I  can  say,  if  God  ever  made  a  man  with  a  kinder  heart,  more 
honorable,  patriotic  and  chivalrous  spirit  than  John  B.  Weller,  I 
never  knew  him.  Gentlemen,  permit  me  to  give  you — 

CALIFORNIA  AND  KENTUCKY — Alike  in  the  perils  and  hardships  of  early  settlement, 
may  their  future  of  honor,  glory  and  prosperity,  be  of  equal  and  similar  destiny. 


By  the  President. 

TENNESSEE:  In  her  bosom  are  the  graves  of  Polk  and  Jackson.  To  the  first  we 
owe  the  acquisition  of  California;  to  the  latter,  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  While 
Tennessee  shall  protect  the  graves,  California  will  revere  the  memories  and  main 
tain  the  principles,  of  the  illustrious  dead. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  The  manifestation  here 
this  evening  does  more  substantial  honor  to  the  distinguished  Sen 
ator  from  California  than  his  election  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  I  once  had  a  notion  of  going  to  California  myself,  but 


24 

the  people  of  my  district  allowed  me  to  come  to  Congress — 
whether  properly  or  improperly,  is  not  for  me  to  say.  I  have 
come  in  at.  a  late  hour,  and  did  not  expect  to  be  called  up,  and 
will  therefore  only  give  you — 

The  future  of  the  Golden  State  of  California — may  she  be  represented  by  two 
Senators  whose  combined  zeal,  patriotism,  and  ability,  may  equal  that  of  the  Hon. 
JOHN  B.  WELLER. 


By  Mr.  Duval.  The  health  of  the  Hon.  PHILEMON  T.  HERBERT,  he  has  been 
vigilant  and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  Representative  of  California, 
and  those  who  know  him  best,  will  esteem  him  most  for  his  many  excellencies  of 
character. 

Mr.  HERBERT. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  I  thank  my  friend  for  the 
kind  expression  of  his  regard,  and  in  response  can  only  say,  that 
however  much  1  may  have  failed  in  the  discharge  of  my  public 
duties,  however  much  I  may  have  fallen  short  of  the  expectation 
of  my  friends  and  my  own  hopes  and  aspirations,  I  have  know 
ingly  neglected  no  wish  of  my  constituents,  or  negligently  let 
pass  any  opportunity  to  subserve  their  interests.  No  man  owes 
more  to  his  constituents  than  I  do,  and  no  man  is  more  proud  of 
the  evidences  of  their  confidence  and  regard.  Dear  as  was  to  me 
the  land  of  my  birth,  the  home  of  my  childhood,  and  the  grave  of 
my  sire,  I  love  my  adopted  home  with  a  heartfelt  devotion,  and 
palsied  be  my  tongue  and  unnerved  my  arm,  when  I  fail  to  speak 
or  strike  in  her  defence.  But  after  the  many  beautiful  compli 
ments  which  have  been  paid  California  this  evening,  what  can  I 
add  in  commendation?  and  yet  I  would  rather  hazard  a  failure 
in  speaking  her  eulogy,  than  at  this  time,  and  on  this  occasion, 
weary  you  with  complaints  of  the  indifference  and  neglect  which 
have  been  shown  on  the  part  of  the  General  Government  in  be 
stowing  upon  her  the  same  bounty  which  has  been  granted  to 
other,  and,  I  might  say,  less  deserving  sisters.  Yet,  in  candor 
and  truth,  I  must  admit,  that  neither  the  indifference  to  the  real 
interests,  nor  neglect  of  the  just  claims  of  California,  has  been 
because  those  interests  have  not  been  properly  appreciated,  or 
those  claims  fully  acknowledged,  but  because,  having  been  born 


25 

with  a  golden  spoon  in  her  hand,  it  is  said,  she  ought  to  feed  her 
self.  Yes,  gentlemen,  California  may  well  be  called  the  Golden 
State;  for  she  boasts  not  only  of  her  bright  skies  and  health-giving 
climate;  of  her  magnificent  mountains,  teeming  with  mineral 
wealth;  of  her  fertile  valleys,  laden  with  the  richest  fruits;  but 
of  fair  daughters  and  noble  sons,  who  will  compare  with  the 
brightest  and  best  of  any  other  land  or  clime.  No  State  in  this 
Confederacy  can  show  a  younger,  more  active,  more  intelligent, 
more  enterprising,  and  more  chivalrous  population:  a  people 
whose  adoration  of  the  flag  above  us  is  only  equaled  by  their 
devotion  to  the  Union.  And  if  evidence  of  their  indomitable 
courage  be  required,  I  would  point  you  to  the  gallant  Walker, 
who,  with  a  handful  of  chivalrous  spirits,  chiefly  rallied  in  Cal 
ifornia,  and  armed  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  has  successfully  corn- 
batted  against  a  force  of  ten  or  twenty  times  his  numbers,  and, 
within  less  than  two  years,  bids  fair  to  establish,  in  that  sunny 
clime,  where  the  orange  ever  blossoms  and  the  figtree  is  ever  green, 
a  republic,  which,  modeled  after  our  free  institutions,  will  regen 
erate  a  people  now  groping  in  the  unhallowed  gloom  of  religious 
fanaticism,  and  make  them,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  our  friends  in 
peace,  and  our  allies  in  war,  against  the  combined  tyrants  and 
despots  of  the  Old  World.  But,  gentlemen,  I  trespass  on  your  in 
dulgence,  and  will  conclude  by  giving  you — 

Oregon.  Although  some  may  think  "California  did  not  come  into  the  Union 
by  the  straight  gate,"  may  Oregon  be  soon  brought  in  by  a  straightforward 
"Lane." 


Mr.  LANE. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  Waiving  the  complimen 
tary  notice  of  myself  by  Mr.  Herbert,  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
acknowledging  my  indebtedness  to  him  for  his  kind  and  generous 
allusion  to  Oregon.  The  allusion  was  doubtless  the  more  earnest 
and  cordial,  and  certainly  not  the  less  welcome,  that  it  comes  after 
such  an  exhaustion  of  other  topics  as  to  require  this  change  of 
venue,  in  order  to  maintain  the  tone  of  the  occasion. 
4 


Ml 

I  have  listened  with  very  great  pleasure  to  the  chaste  and  beau 
tiful  observations  of  the  president  of  (he  day;  I  have  been  de 
lighted  with  his  eloquent  and  happy  apostrophe  to  that  glorious 
star-spangled  banner— the  flag  of  our  Union  !  He  has  reminded 
us  that  the  star  last  added  to  that  bright  and  glorious  constellation 
of  independent  and  free  Slates  was  the  pactolean  sovereignty  of 
California — the  sole  State  upon  the  wide-spreading  coast  of  the 
Pacific.  Sir,  that  proud  banner,  so  gracefully  overhanging  us, 
envelopes  within  its  waving  folds  no  star  to  give  assurance  to  the 
world  of  the  existence  of  Oregon,  or  to  remind  us  that  she  belongs 
to,  and  forms  a  portion  of,  our  confederacy.  Nor  is  it  alone  upon 
that  field  that  the  fortunes  of  our  people  seem  to  be  ignored.  I 
regret  that  candor  compels  me  to  declare,  that  our  people  keenly 
feel  that  in  the  present  Congress  their  just  claims  to  aid,  protec 
tion,  and  the  fostering  care  of  the  Government,  are  overlooked,  and 
the  existence  of  Oregon  is  almost  as  blank  as  1  have  said  its  recog 
nition  is  upon  the  foldings  of  that  flag.  And  yet,  sir,  that  flag  never 
floated  over  any  people  more  devoted  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union  than  are  those  whose  interests  have  been  thus  neglected  and 
disregarded.  Patriotic,  brave  and  chivalrous, as  they  are,  "patient 
in  long  suffering/'  with  unswerving  devotion  to  the  Union,  they 
look  anxiously  forward  to  the  termination  of  the  period  of  their 
minority,  when  in  the  strength  of  their  political  manhood  they 
will  ask  to  add  another,  if  not  a  brighter,  star  to  that  constellation. 
Then,  Mr.  President,  in  our  loyalty  to  the  Constitution,  to  the 
Union,  and  to  the  rights  of  the  States,  we  shall  render  the  exist 
ence  of  Oregon  a  "  fixed  fact,"  and  in  the  substitution  of  the 
claim  in  lieu  of  vain  solicitation,  cease  to  know  the  interests  of  our 
people  uncared-for  and  neglected. 

Mr.  President,  it  was  not  my  purpose  so  to  speak  of  Oregon, 
nor  should  I  have  done  so  but  for  the  fact  that  the  subject  loomed 
up  in  advance  of  what  I  meant  to  say  of  him  whom  we  have  met 
to  honor,  and  it  is,  you  know,  our  nature  to  give  first  utterance  to 
that  which  springs  uppermost  in  our  minds.  You,  who  have 
preceded  me,  have  cordially  and  well  spoken  of  the  eminent  ser 
vices  of  your  noble  and  gifted  Senator,  Colonel  Weller.  He  is 
well  worthy  of  your  eloquent  commendations  of  his  personal  and 
political  integrity,  genius,  courage,  and  patriotism.  As  the  sole 


27 

representative  in  the  United  States  Senate  of  California,  and 
indeed  of  our  entire  Pacific  coast,  embracing  a  district  of  country 
from  the  thirty-second  to  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  he  has  won  the 
welcome  plaudit,  "wettdone  thou  good  and  faithful  servant;"  and 
as  well  in  my  own,  as  in  the  name  of  the  people  I  have  the  honor 
to  represent  here,  I  tender  Colonel  Weller  cordial  assurances  of 
our  gratitude  and  esteem  for  his  noble  services  in  behalf  of  us 
and  our  interests  as  a  people.  Combining  the  essential  requisites 
of  a  true  representative  of  an  intelligent  and  free  people — integ 
rity,  fidelity,  and  ability — was  the  voice  of  Oregon  heard  in  his 
behalf,  Colonel  Weller  would,  as  he  merits,  be  retained  in  his 
present  position,  an  honor  to  the  Senate,  his  constituency,  and  the 
country. 


By  Mr.  Herbert.  The  health  of  the  Hon.  Miguel  A.  Otero,  rhe  faithful  and  efficient 
delegate  from  New  Mexico.  Such  adopted  citizens  constitute  a  valuable  portion  of 
our  acquisition  of  that  rich  and  beautiful  territory. 

Mr.  OTERO. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT:  I  feel,  indeed,  highly  complimented  and  hon 
ored  by  the  sentiment  proposed  by  the  gentleman  from  California, 
and  I  thank  him  heartily  for  it.  I  suppose,  sir,  that  the  honorable 
gentleman  represents  a  portion  of  a  class  of  constituency,  such  as 
1  entirely  have  the  honor  to  represent,  and  1  look  upon  him  as  a 
colleague  of  mine,  because  we  both  represent  what  was  once  a 
Mexican  territory.  It  is  my  honor  and  privilege,  unworthy  as  I 
am,  to  represent  a  people  foreign  to  your  laws,  your  constitution, 
and  your  language,  and,  I  may  add,  a  conquered  people.  I,  my 
self,  have  been  twice  conquered,  once  by  your  flag  and  another  time 
by  your  kindness.  That  people,  sir,  admired  your  noble  institu 
tions,  and  the  principles  of  liberty  and  freedom,  that  are  at  the 
foundation  of  this  magnificent  fabric,  long  before  you  acquired 
sovereignty  over  that  country.  They  now  love  that  flag  which  has 
been  already  so  beautifully  apostrophised  by  gentlemen  who  have 
spoken  before  me,  and  you  cannot  love  it  more. 

I  have  heard  the  honored  and  experienced  delegate  from  the 
Territory  of  Oregon  complain  bitterly  of  the  utter  regardlessness, 


28 

on  the  part  of  the  General  Government,  towards  the  people  and 
Territory  of  Oregon.  Sir,  when  he,  who  has  been  always  so  suc 
cessful  in  procuring  for  his  people  and  country  all  that  they  can 
desire,  complains,  what  then  must  be  said  by  me,  when  abso 
lutely  nothing  has  been  done  on  the  part  of  our  adopted  country 
to  promote  the  interests  and  safety  of  seventy-five  thousand  con 
quered  people  like  myself.  But,  Mr.  Chairman.  I  claim,  and  the 
people  of  New  Mexico  claim,  and  consider  that  the  honorable 
Senator,  whom  we  have  come  here  to-day  to  meet  and  honor, 
because  of  his  faithfulness  to  the  interests  of  his  State,  and  his  pa 
triotism  as  a  statesman — we  claim  him  as  our  representative.  We 
look  upon  the  representatives  of  California  and  Texas  as  ours,  and 
are  interested  in  the  progress  of  all  and  every  part  of  that  country 
which  was  once  Mexican  territory,  and  I  trust  they  will  not  forget 
New  Mexico. 


By  Jtfr.  Herbert.  Professor  ALEX'R  DIMITRY,  a  worthy  son  of  Louisiana,  and 
true  friend  of  Education  and  of  the  progress  of  civilization. 

Mr.  DIMITRY. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN:  Like  your  distinguished 
guests  at  another  portion  of  this  board,  [Messrs.  Clay  of  Alabama, 
and  Rusk,  of  Texas,]  I  had  no  thought  that,  in  a  social  gathering 
of  friends  and  admirers  of  one  who  has  made  his  proofs  in  more 
i ban  one  field  of  usefulness,  I  could  be  expected  to  do  more  than 
share  in  the  genial  festivities  of  this  scene,  dignified  by  a  tribute 
of  respect  due  to  acknowledged  merit.  After,  however,  paying 
my  share  of  that  tribute  in  all  sincerity,  and  acquitting  myself  of 
my  quota  of  duty — and  "yeoman's  duty"  it  has  been — in  work 
ing  through  this  Lucullan  feast;  I  find,  Mr.  President,  that  the 
partiality  of  a  friend  [Col.  Herbert]  compels  me,  like  Arrnado  in 
the  play,  to  have  recourse  to  "the  bread-basket  of  words." 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  though  mine  would  seem,  on  this 
occasion,  to  be,  by  virtue  of  the  toast,  naturally  due  to  my  native 
State;  still  I  prefer  that  they  should  be  more  pleasingly,  and,  I  am 
sure,  less  selfishly  devoted  to  speak  of  California,  a  State  honored 


'459 

by  ihe  allegiance  of  so  many  good  men,  and  eminently  so  by  the 
signal  merits  of  her  representative  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate. 

Indeed,  sir,  there  is  something  of  more  than  common  moment 
in  the  existence  and  prosperity  of  the  young,  but  vigorous,  State 
which  you,  and  other  friends  around  me,  claim  either  as  the  scene 
of  your  former  labors  or  the  seat  of  your  future  interests.  In  one 
respect,  and  in  that  one  only,  I  feel  certain — like  the  Tyre  of  old, 
which  "sat  upon  many  waters" — she  is  a  wonder  to  the  world! 
A  wonder  which  has  made  a  truth  of  the  fables  of  ancient  limes; 
whilst  it  has  clone  away  with  the  necessity  of  those  gods  who,  by 
their  magic  power,  reared  up  cities  and  states  in  one  day — an  ex 
peditious  process  of  building,  the  secret  of  which  had  been  lost  to 
the  world  till  again  discovered  by  the  ingenuity,  and  again  applied 
by  the  energy,  of  Americans  to  the  dwellings  of  men  on  the  wild 

Pacific  COaSt!  BANCROFT  UBRAHV 

And  yet,  Mr.  President,  wonderful  as  have  been  the  prosperities 
of  your  State;  great  as  may  be  the  astonishment  of  the  world  at 
its  unfailing  harvests  of  gold;  there  is  something  more  interesting 
and  more  absorbing  than  the  yield  of  the  harvests  or  the  story  of 
the  prosperities.  The  name  of  California,  borne  on  the  wings  of 
the  four  winds  of  heaven,  has  gone  to  all  the  quarters  of  the  globe, 
from  the  humblest  hovel  to  the  more  aspiring  mansion.  It  was 
whispered  to  every  grade  and  occupation  in  the  various  walks  of 
life;  and  out  of  every  grade  and  occupation  the  influence  of  that 
name  has  gathered  some  representative,  and  led  him  to  her  rich 
fields,  for  every  exertion  and  toil — it  may  have  been  for  hardship 
and  suffering — but  eventually  for  triumphs,  before  the  splendors 
of  which  will  but  faintly  glimmer  the  successes  of  the  past! 

The  world,  Mr.  President,  looks  on  your  State  in  amaze.  It 
once  looked  upon  a  territory  which,  for  three  centuries,  the  un- 
progressive  Spaniard  held  in  useless  fee,  and  which  he  yielded  to 
the  equally  useless  mastery  of  the  indolent  Mexican.  It  looked 
at  it  with  the  almost  visible  foot-prints  of  the  great  Conquistador 
still  upon  its  face — that  territory,  the  importance  of  which  the 
ambition  of  Cortez  had  foreseen,  but  which  even  his  sagacity  had 
failed  to  improve.  It  looked  upon  it,  gradually  yielding  to  the 
utter  savagism  of  untutored  life,  through  the  inertness  of  Mexi 
can  rule. 


30 

Thus,  Mr.  President,  may  the  world  have  looked  upon  it  once; 
but  how  is  it  now,  sir?  Novus  nascitur  ordo — in  the  ever-moving 
cycles  of  human  destinies,  a  new  order  of  things  has  revolved. 
In  the  shadowing*  of  providential  .ends,  the  motives  for  which 
may  be  hidden  from  us,  though  the  results  must  be  seen  by  all; 
the  world  looks  upon  California  as  a  portion  never  to  be  sun 
dered  from  our  political  inheritance.  It  looks  upon  her  as  ours, 
and  doubly  ours — ours  by  the  might  of  conqueringarms,  and  ours  by 
the  sanctions  of  civilizing  intellect.  It  looks  upon  her  as  a  sovereign 
State,  taking  rank  among  the  most  prosperous  of  those  with  which 
we  are  dotting  the  continent,  under  the  aegis  of  a  consiitution, 
adopted  just  about  a  time  when,  so  little  of  her  condition  was 
known,  that  the  savants  of  Europe  were  discussing  whether  she 
was  an  island  of  the  Pacific! 

But  whilst  the  world  looks  thus  upon  her,  admiring  her  for  the 
gigantic  strides  which  she  has  taken  in  the  career  of  progress,  ap 
plauding  her  daily  efforts  to  master  the  elements  of  evil  which  in 
evitably  gather  around  the  rudiments  of  communities  such  as  she 
has  been,  and  to  build  up  in  their  place  all  the  moralizing  influences 
which  are  destined  to  set  her  as  high,  in  the  social  family,  as  she 
stands  in  the  productive  world;  I  view  her,  as  1  have  done  for  the 
few  years  of  her  existence,  with  a  better  and  a  higher  hope,  which 
tells  me  that,  although  her  rise  and  growth  bear  the  date  of  yes 
terday,  she  is  teeming  even  now  with  the  promises  of  centuries. 
When  she  will  have  fully  asserted  her  claims  to  the  fostering  care 
of  the  Government,  and  when  a  wise  legislation  shall  in  her  in 
terests  have  embodied  those  of  the  whole  country,  then  will  new 
avenues  of  prosperity  and  power  be  opened,  through  the  gorges 
of  the  Sierra,  which  the  daring  of  her  hardy  sons  has  successfully 
marked  out  as  the  highway  of  future  empire! 

It  were  almost  a  truism,  Mr.  President,  to  say  that  the  system 
of  railroads,  completed  and  contemplated,  not  only  in  our  country, 
but  also  over  the  world,  is  a  great  frame-work  in  which  the  destinies 
of  modern  civilization  are  embraced.  But  we  cannot  dissever  our 
navigation  lines  from  our  lines  of  railroads;  these  two  great  systems 
are  to  be  balanced  along  our  continent,  as  circulation  and  locomo 
tion  are  balanced  in  the  human  system.  He  is  but  a  short-sighted 
statesman,  who  does  not  heed  the  inevitable  destiny  of  our  coun- 


try  and  race  rooted  in  the  soil  of  California,  and  connected  with 
the  Pacific  slopes,  where  you,  Mr.  President,  have  so  properly 
placed  the  cradle  of  a  new  civilization.  I  see  it,  not  so  much  in 
the  miracles  of  industry  which  you  have  wrought — in  the  churches 
which  you  have  consecrated, and  the  schools  which  you  have  estab 
lished;  nor  yet  in  the  daily  conquests  which  you  achieve  over  ma 
terial  nature,  compelling  her  unceasingly  to  yield  to  your  energy 
the  buried  treasure,  which  centuries  upon  centuries  have  bosomed 
in  the  stream  or  locked  up  in  the  mountain;  but  I  see  it  in  the 
execution  of  an  original,  providential  law,  of  which  we  are  (he 
necessary  instruments. 

It  were  a  serious  error  to  admit  that  the  book  of  progress  is 
written  out  to  its  last  page.  The  highest  type  of  civilization — 
that  which  we  now  enjoy — is  the  result  of  many  preceding  types. 
Still  there  is,  I  trust,  a  better  one  to  come.  In  our  own  country, 
lying  between  Europe  and  Asia,  on  your  own  soil,  sir,  is  the  semi 
nary  of  the  future  civilization  of  nations  and  tribes  which  have 
not  even  dreamed  of  the  word.  Its  work  will  be  carried  on  by 
the  migrations  and  lodgments  of  the  more  daring  races,  which  even 
now  continue  all  but  unobserved.  Ay!  sir,  nations  and  races 
never  utterly  perish,  though  they  may  be  displaced.  Not,  how 
ever,  as  in  the  past,  is  the  work  performed  in  long  and  weary  plod- 
dings  by  the  shores  of  oceans — along  the  valleys  of  streams,  or 
the  gaps  of  mountains — but  daily,  almost  hourly,  under  the  heave 
of  the  steam-engine  from  across  the  Atlantic — under  the  pantings 
of  the  hoarse-breathing  locomotive,  from  every  corner  of  the  land, 
is  this  untiring  traveller  of  thousands  of  years  making  his  onward 
way  !  As  science  has  noted  a  magnetic  current  running  from  the 
north  to  the  south;  so  has  history  recognised  a  living,  human  cur 
rent  trending  from  the  east  to  the  west,  in  the  pathway  of  the  sun. 
It  is,  and  it  has  been,  the  law  since  the  great  dispersions  of  man 
kind.  If  the  East  sent  us  the  elements  of  civilization  from  the 
ranges  of  the  Himalayan;  the  West  is  now  about  to  restore  it  in 
enlarged  measures  to  the  East. 

This  great  race  of  civilization,  gentlemen,  is  not  near  its  close. 
The  puny  attempts  of  little  men  cannot  unmake  the  laws  of  God , 
or  crush  the  instincts  of  mankind.  Survey  the  geography  of  our 
country — mark  the  \vonderful  adjustment  of  its  mountains  and 


valleys,  its  hikes  and  streams,  and,  in  (hat  magnificent  system  of 
distribution,  mark  also  the  seats  of  successive  cities,  growing  and 
clustering  into  magnificent  States.  These  broad  fields  of  ours, 
which  in  now  unimproved  extent  intervene  between  our  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  possessions,  will  swarm  with  the  contributions  of  Eu 
rope — nay,  of  Asia  itself,  until  ours  becomes  the  crowded  conti 
nent.  And  when  our  Kansas  and  Nebraskas,  our  Oregons  and 
California;?,  shall  have  been  stocked  to  excess,  the  line  of  march 
will  again  be  taken  np — over  the  waves  of  the  Pacific — along  the 
islands  of  the  Archipelago;  the  American  bearing  his  peculiar 
notions  and  ideas  even  to  the  continent  of  Asia.  Leaving  in  each 
footprint  of  his,  the  seeds  of  American  civilization,  he  will  press 
onward  until  he  plants  a  conquering  foot  on  the  very  clay,  out  of 
which  the  hand  of  God  fashioned  the  first  man  to  be,  at  once,  the 
proxy  of  his  power  and  the  instrument  of  his  designs  ! 


Mr.  DOBBINS. 

GENTLEMEN:  Allow  me  to  offer  you  the  health  of  one  who,  al 
though  absent  in  person,  yet  he  is  with  us  in  spirit — a  man  whose 
efforts,  it  mattered  not  whether  as  the  military  subordinate,  fight 
ing  the  battles  of  his  country  on  the  Northwestern  frontier  in 
1812-' 13,  or  as  the  Cabinet  officer  here  in  Washington;  whether 
as  the  Governor  of  a  Territory  or  a  United  States  Senator;  whether 
as  the  Commissioner  treating  with  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  North 
west,  or  the  Plenipo-diplomat  treating  with  the  nations  of  Eu 
rope,  have  ever  been  directed  to  the  elevation,  the  protection, 
the  honor  and  glory  of  that  flag,  (pointing  to  the  American  flag,) 
either  afloat  or  ashore.  And  if  he  has  a  fault,  if  fault  it  be,  it 
is  his  over-zeal  in  that  good  cause;  and  1  might  say,  it  would 
further  appear,  his  motto  has  ever  been:  "My  country  if  right;  but 
right  or  wrong,  still  my  country." 

I  give  you,  gentlemen — 

The  health  of  that  veteran  soldier,  statesman,  and  true  American  citizen,  Gen. 
LEWIS  CASS:  The  history  of  the  nation  is  hi«  record;  every  American  citizen  should 
be  proud  of  it. 


33 

By  the  Prtsidenl.  ARIZONA  AKD  OUR  OTHKRTEIUUTOFIES — May  they  soon  become 
sovereign  States:  Like  the  virgins  who  entered  the  rare  of  Grecian  games,  passing 
on  in  succession  the  sacred  torch  unextinjruished  till  they  reach  the  altar  of  Liberty. 

Mr.  COOK. 

As  I  perceive  no  one  around  me  to  respond  to  the  sentiment  just 
given,  although  coming  from  an  embryo  Territory,  1  will  endeavor 
lo  perform  (he  task  to  the  best  of  my  humble  ability.  By  the 
unanimous  voice  of  the  people,  I  was  called  on  to  undertake  a 
journey  of  six  thousand  miles  to  present  to  Congress  their  griev 
ances  and  their  necessities,  and  to  ask  that  civil  and  military  pro 
tection  which  as  American  citizens  they  have  a  right  to  claim,  to 
which  they  are  entitled  by  every  principle  of  justice,  and  which 
is  established  by  usage  and  guarantied  by  treaty. 

While  California  is  to  this  nation  what  the  head  of  gold  was  to 
the  image  as  seen  in  the  vision  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  so  is  Arizona 
destined  to  be  the  breast  and  arms  of  silver;  and  as  in  the  physical 
body  the  head  is  the  seat  of  will,  so  California  governs  the  com 
merce  of  the  other  States,  and  dictates  the  laws  of  trade;  and  as 
within  the  breast  is  contained  the  seat  of  life,  propelling  the  vital 
fluid  through  every  ramification  of  the  system,  so  is  contained 
within  the  boundaries  of  Arizona  those  latent  elements  of  wealth, 
which  at  no  distant  day  will  give  impulse  to  the  commerce  of  the 
world.  I  am  unable  to  stretch  my  imagination  so  far  as  the 
honorable  Professor  who  has  preceded  me,  and  to  discern  what 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  will  accomplish  in  the  Old  World;  my 
vision,  piercing  westward  to  what  was  of  old  the  Eastern  World, 
is  reflected  back  by  the  placid  waters  of  the  Pacific,  and  rests  for 
a  field  of  future  development  upon  what  is  now  our  own  land  of 
Ophir,  taking  in  with  a  prophetic  glance  our  sister  Republic  of 
the  south,  whose  destiny  will,  I  believe,  be  hereafter  indissoluble 
wedded  to  ours! 

It  is  no  vain  or  foolish  imagination  which  leads  me  to  believe 
that  a  country  pregnant  with  all  the  elements  of  wealth,  and  pos 
sessed  of  a  climate  healthful  and  lovely  as  that  of  classic  Italy, 
lying  adjacent  to  this  empire  of  freedom,  and  open  to  American 
enterprise,  must  sooner  or  later  throw  off  political  misrule  and 
ecclesiastical  oppression,  and  join  us  in  the  march  of  progress  as 
an  integral  part  of  our  great  Republic!  In  viewing  the  rapidity 


34 

with  which  we  have  acquired  territory,  and  in  contemplating  the 
course  of  that  tide  of  civilization  and  enlightenment  which  the 
impetus  of  our  early  colonization  has  sent  forward,  it  needs  no 
prophetic  vision  to  discover  that  the  whole  of  Mexico  must  be 
ours.  Destiny  has  willed  it;  and  He  who  "holds  the  waters  in 
the  hollow  of  his  hand"  has  decreed  it! 

1  did  not  rise,  however,  to  enter  into  a  disquisition  upon  the 
destiny  of  American  institutions,  nor  to  boast  of  the  value  of  my 
own  Territory,  but  to  acknowledge  gratefully  a  compliment. 
Permit  me  to  give,  in  conclusion — 

CALIFORNIA — The  Golden  Head  of  our  National  body. 


By  Mr.  Dobbins.  THE  PACIFIC  RAILKOAD — The  iron  shackle  which  will  ore  long 
bind  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  States  in  social  and  commercial  intercourse.  And  when 
that  great  work  is  completed,  may  the  door  of  discord  be  locked  and  the  key  lost. 


By  Major  W.  M.  /rein.  The  health  of  Commodore  Thomas  Ap  C.  Jones — Others 
may  claim  the  conquest  of  California,  but  history  will  tell  that  he  first  "pitched  in," 
taking  Monterey,  as  the  telegraphic  despatch  sometimes  travels,  a  little  ahead  of  the 
right  time.  May  he  soon  be  called  back  to  active  duty,  and  to  the  position  to  which 
he  is  entitled  for  his  long  and  meritorious  services. 

By  the  President. 

"Honor  to  Woman!    To  her  is  given 
To  garland  the  earth  with  the  roses  of  heaven! 
All  blessed,  she  linketh  the  Loves  in  their  choir; 
In  the  veil  of  the  Graces  her  beauty  concealing, 
She  tends  on  each  altar  that's  hallow'd  to  feeling, 
And  keeps  ever-living  the  fire!'' 


By  Mr.  C.  E.  Carr.  The  healtfyof  our  worthy  and  esteemed  President:  We  return 
him  our  thanks  for  the  grace  and  dignity  with  which  he  has  presided  on  this  joyous 
occasion. 

Mr.  STEUART. 

I  thank  my  friend  for  the  kind  sentiment  just  given,  and  espe 
cially  our  distinguished  Senator,  for  the  complimentary  allusion 
he  made  to  the  humble  part  I  took  in  the  formation  of  the  consti 
tution  of  the  State  of  California.  This  is  not  the  time  or  occasion , 
or  I  would  gladly  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity,  in  such  a  pres 
ence,  to  vind  icate  the  motives  and  action  of  that  convention  from 


35 

much  miscon  struction  and  misrepresentation.  But,  gentlemen, 
while  up,  permit  me  to  add  a  word  to  the  eulogium  which  has 
already  been  passed  upon  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Michigan, 
whose  absence  we  all  must  regret.  It  is  not,  in  my  apprehension, 
the  energy  and  enterprise  of  his  early  life,  his  heroism  in  our  In 
dian  wars,  or  the  bloody  contests  of  that  of  1812;  not  the  high 
rank  which  he  holds  in  the  Senate;  not  the  reputation  he  has 
acquired  as  a  diplomatist,  or  his  varied  acquirements  as  a  scholar, 
and  acknowledged  abilities  as  a  statesman,  which  have  won  for 
him  the  esteem  and  regard  of  his  peers,  and  the  entire  confidence 
of  his  countrymen.  But  it  is  because  in  times  past,  as  well  as  at 
the  present  moment,  at  home  and  abroad,  in  peace  and  in  war, 
in  every  and  ail  public  emergencies,  he  has  shown  a  zeal  and 
devotion  in  the  service  of  the  Republic  which  could  only  emanate 
from  a  patriot's  heart.  Venerable  in  years,  though  vigorous  in 
intellect,  LEWIS  CASS  stands  as  it  were  on  the  isthmus  of  life,  his 
name  associated  with  recollections  of  the  past  and  hopes  of  the 
future.  Looking  to  yonder  capitol,  we  remember  those  glorious 
contests  when  mind  met  mind,  and  with  all  the  force  of  reason 
and  the  subtlety  of  argument,  intellect  strove  with  intellect  for  the 
mastery,  in  devising  and  maturing  measures  of  legislation  for  the 
honor,  safety,  and  welfare  of  the  nation.  We  remember  that  he 
was 

"One  of  that  illustrious  band, 
Beneath  whose  banners  proud  to  stand, 
Look'd  up  the  noblest  of  the  land;'' 

And  who,  by  untiring  efforts  to  secure  the  peace,  happiness,  and 
prosperity  of  the  people  of  the  whole  Union,  won  a  nation's 
gratitude  and  the  world's  applause.  Of  these,  three  of  the 
greatest,  wisest,  noblest,  have  passed  away.  The  pure-minded, 
but  genius-gifted  and  chivalrous  Calhoun  sleeps  in  the  bosom  of 
his  loved  Carolina;  the  memory  of  his  virtues,  as  fresh  in  the 
hearts  of  his  people,  as  the  evergreen  leaves  of  the  palmetto  which 
distil  the  dews  of  Heaven  over  his  grave.  The  Great  Pacifica 
tor,  the  illustrious  Clay — life's  fitful  changes  past — calmly  reposes 
in  the  shades  of  Ashland,  his  tomb  to  be  more  than  a  Mecca 
shrine  to  patriot  pilgrim  while  time  shall  last.  And  the  mighty 
Webster,  god-like  in  virtue  and  in  intellect,  lies  entombed  at 


.Marsh field,  the  lament  of  a  nation  for  his  untimely  death  still 
continuing1,  as  mournful  and  eternal  as  the  dirge  of  the  ocean 
which  rolls  on,  and  will  forever  roll  on,  against  its  rock-bound 
shore!  To  have  been  at.  once  the  friend  and  rival,  the.  ally  and 
compeer  in  the  forum  and  the  council-chamber,  of  this  noble, 
triumvirate,  and  now  in  the  evening  of  his  days  stili  to  stand, 
"with  armour  on  and  lance  in  rest,"  pre-eminent,  among  the  most 
gifted  and  talented  of  his  present  peers,  is  a  position  of  the  highest 
honor  and  most  enduring  fame. 

Since  "lauciari  a  viro  laudato"  is  the  highest  possible  commen 
dation,  1  know  not  what  higher  tribute  can  be  paid  to  the  Senator 
whom  we  have  met  together  especially  to  honor,  than  to  present 
the  following  letter,  selected  out  of  many  received  by  the  com 
mittee  from  gentlemen  invited  to  this  banquet,  but  who,  having 
previously  accepted  invitations  elsewhere,  and  for  other  reasons, 
were  unavoidably  prevented  from  attending. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C . ,  Janu ary  17.  1S5T. 
GENTLEMEN:  For  some  years  [  have  found  it  necessary  to  de 
cline  all  invitations  to  dine  out,  and  I  must,  therefore  ask  your 
indulgence  for  declining  to  join  you  at  the  complimentary  dinner, 
proposed  to  be  given  to  Colonel  Weller  by  the  citizens  of  Califor 
nia  on  the  22d  instant.  If  I  could  be  induced  to  depart  from 
this  resolution,  it  would  be  upon  an  occasion  like  the  present, 
when  my  feelings  and  my  judgment  equally  approve  the  measure. 
Colonel  Weller  deserves  this  token  of  approbation  from  his  fel 
low-citizens;  for  he  has  served  his  State  and  his  country  with  zeal, 
integrity,  and  ability  during  his  senatorial  term,  and  has  acquired 
the  respect  and  regard  of  the  members  of  the  high  body  in  which 
he  holds  a  seat.  In  these  sentiments  no  one  concurs  more  cheer 
fully  than  I  do. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  respectfully,  yours, 

LEW.  CASS. 
W.  M.  STEUART,     "| 
M.  DELANY, 

W.  W.  DOBBINS,     ^  Committee. 
A.  C.  BRADFORD, 
0.  E.CARK,  Esqs.J 


